Deadly habit snares youth

MANILA, Philippines – Nearly half of Filipino students aged 13 to 15 years old have smoked cigarette, and 13.6 percent of those who never smoked are also likely to initiate smoking the following year, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted in 2007.

 Of the 5,919 Filipino students who participated in the survey, 46.2 percent said they have smoked cigarette. Fifty-eight percent of those who smoke are male while 34 percent are female.

In the western Pacific region, 13 percent of youth currently smoke – one out of five boys and one out of 10 girls.

Dr. Susan Mercado, regional adviser on the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office, attributes campus smoking to several factors, including social considerations and access to the product.

Mercado said 33.1 percent think boys and 19.4 percent think girls who smoke have more friends while 18.2 percent think boys and 15.1 percent think girls who smoke look more attractive.

“A very interesting fact is that in RP, 64 percent of students aged 13-15 years old who bought cigarette in a store were not refused purchase. According to the law, there’s a ban on sale to minors but 64 percent are saying that if they buy cigarette, no one will stop them even if they are only 13 years old. So that’s a big issue, the access,” Mercado said.

Likewise, 57.8 percent of the respondents said they live in homes where others smoke in their presence while 67 percent are around others who smoke in places outside their home.

Eighty-seven percent, meantime, saw pro-cigarette ads on billboards. This was before the ban on the promotion, advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products.

“So if you look at it, the most important reason why students smoke is because it is effectively promoted by the tobacco industry. Promo has been so strong and the social norm makes it easy for them to smoke. It’s good that now, there is already a ban on advertising, no more television and radio ads and this is a major accomplishment in the Philippines,” Mercado said.

Mercado shared that although she hasn’t seen any documentation in the Philippines, it’s almost certain that “when you ban advertising, promotion and sponsorship, consumption rates actually go down.”

The graphic design warning on cigarette packs also plays a major role in discouraging students to smoke.

“Some of the global data reveal that quitting or cutting down rates could go up to about 8 percent because of seeing and being reminded of the effects of tobacco on their (smokers’) health,” Mercado said.

In Brazil, two-thirds of smokers (67 percent) said the warnings made them want to quit while in Canada, nearly half of the smokers (44 percent) said the warnings had increased their motivation to quit.

More than one quarter of smokers in Singapore (28 percent) said they consumed fewer cigarettes) as a result of the warnings and nearly half (44 percent) of smokers in Thailand said the pictorial warnings made them “a lot” more likely to quit over the next month.

Mercado believes that there are many things that need to be done to prevent students from smoking, and one of the most effective is to increase the price of the product and its taxes.

“Right now it’s quite cheap so anyone can buy a stick. The ban on sale to minors is not implemented and many public places still do not have 100 percent smoke-free implementation,” Mercado said.

Mercado cited Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and Hongkong as among the countries in the region that are doing well in their fight against smoking.

But she added that there have been initiatives in several schools in the country, the University of the Philippines among them, to make their campuses smoke-free.    

Meantime, in his opinion column “Roses and Thorns” published in the STAR’s June 27 issue, former Education Secretary Alejandro Roces cited the historic vote in the US Senate that is expected to lead a major breakthrough in the anti-smoking campaign.

Roces is hoping that the same restrictions, including the limiting of nicotine content in cigarettes, more curtailment to promotions that glorify tobacco and banning of flavored products aimed at spreading the   habit to young people, will be implemented in the Philippines. Roces commends the examples set by some leaders in successfully banning smoking within buildings and public places under their jurisdiction — GSIS P/GM Winston Garcia, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, Taguig City Mayor Freddie Tinga, Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

“But the last news we heard on the anti-smoking campaign is not too good. The reports say that our legislators failed to pass into law the Graphic Health Warning Bill before the deadline set by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is last September 2008 ... Under this bill, tobacco companies will be required to put graphic picture warnings of diseases and disabilities caused by smoking to serve as explicit warnings to the public. It seems that tobacco companies have found allies in some of our congressmen whose arguments effectively translated into majority votes against the bill, thus aborting its timely approval. There were published reports that bribes were afloat during that day of decision. I hope these congressmen who are guilty realize that they are putting a hindrance to what could save lives even at this very moment,” Roces writes.

“Businessmen should stop looking for more profits in selling cigarettes and think of the common good. We call on our officials in the Senate and Congress to make the anti-smoking bills their top priority,” appeals Roces, in common with many Filipinos.